Over the last thirty
years decreased in heart rate variability HRV has received increasing
attention as a prognostic indicator of risk associated with a variety of
chronic diseases, morbidity, mortality and aging (1). Nowadays the main
stream of medical society accepts HRV as one of the best predictors of
nonspecific health risk. Panin and Bajevski first proved that HRV reflects
the stress provoked by cosmic flights. Latter Danev et all (2) find a strong
positive relationship between HRV decrease and mental effort in a series
of laboratory well controlled experiments. Recently HRV is used for assessment
of the harmful effect of a large class of stresses including environmental
pollution, dietary problems, psychosocial discomfort or behavioral disorders.
HRV was proved to reflect also the stage of development of many clinical
diseases (f. ex. diabetes, hypertonia, thyreotoxicosis, leukemia, different
kinds of carciomatosis (3) etc. So why in the last few decades HRV becomes
one of the best diagnostic tools of the modern medical practice. The practical
employment of this method in environmental and occupational aspect needs
special software and hardware facilities A possible concrete realization
is the proposed computerized set, named Dantest.

What does Dantest measure?

Dantest is a computerized
electrophysiological method, based on ECG or plethysmogram recording. From
one of these signals, HRV analysis is elected. From ECG signal ECG analysis
is elected. From both signals analysis of spectral coherence between and
systolic blood pressure (SBP) spectra is elected. When using breathing
sensor, SBP is replaced by breathing.

THE NEED OF DANTEST

o Overstress and immobilization
are conventional health risk factors, triggering the development of life
threatening specific diseases. They are decreasing the adaptation reserves
by changing the homeostatic equilibrium to heterostatic one (vagal-to-sympathetic
ratio permanently shows a prevailing sympathetic tone in rest).
o The assessed by Dantest overstress
and immobilization correlate positively with morbidity, absenteeism and
mortality among the investigated population.
o Dantest offers possibility
to control the effect of any health promoting strategy.
o Dantest is a result of more
than three decades of very profound scientific research.
o Dantest is not pointing the
exact diagnosis, but the actual HRV - based HEALTH RISK (in %). A
chronically increased level of health risk (for a time period longer than
some months) can precede serious illness.
Dantest reveal the “dangerous” health periods in advance. This gives
the opportunity their consequences to be reliably avoided.
Dantest is protected by patent application N 45417 /14.04.1995 (Institute
for inventions and innovations - Bulgaria).

SCIENTIFIC BACKGROUND OF DANTEST

Prof. Dr. Danev MD PHD DSC developed
and implemented in the practice several HRV based tests. They are enriching
the possibility to obtain a more deep insight in the psychophysiological
well being of the ill or healthy subjects. On this topic he published more
than 100 scientific reports devoted to the usefulness of HRV for assessment
of health risk. As Prof. Danev works in this area more than 25 years and
is one of it’s founders (he was the first president of the European society
for HRV analysis), Dantest comprise the essential of HRV knowledge captured
till now.
o It was proved that the persons
with increased health risk score according to Dantest are developing (in
some years) more likely different kinds of pathological processes, when
compared with controls.